When Cyberpunk 2077 was released in 2020 it was a really divisive game, launching in a terrible state and under-delivering in multiple areas. However, it was also just a good time, with a surprisingly touching story and great core gameplay. Overall, it was a really good game that didn’t hit its potential. Over the past two years though, massive progress has been made to make it a truly great game (albeit with some flaws still), and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty marks the end of this chapter.

**Some plot spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077’s main story, but nothing beyond Act 2**

Phantom Liberty slots right into the second act of the main game. V is stuck with Johnny Silverhand firmly stuck into their head. However, you soon receive a communication from a Netrunner, known as Songbird. The President’s plane is being brought down by a mercenary, known as Hansen, in the Dogtown district of Night City. In return for helping Songbird get the president to safety, there is a promise of a cure.

The story here is one that I’ve been wanting in Cyberpunk 2077. It goes deeper into some of the more fascinating lore aspects of the universe, whilst delivering an intriguing spy thriller story. We get into some lore about the NUSA creation and Unification Wars, as well as bit more into the Blackwall. Every new and returning character is superbly well-written, primarily lead by NUSA Sleeper Agent, Solomon Reed, and the previously mentioned Songbird. CD Projekt Red casting Idris Elba as Reed is basically a glimpse into what his Bond would look like, and it would be criminal if it never ends up happening.

By slotting into the main game, it also provides new possible endings. The attempt is pretty solid, providing a brand-new distinct ending. Whilst I was happy with most of the direction for this, there are a few out-of-character moments from the base game cast that didn’t gel too well with me. It comes so close to nailing the ending down, but it’s not quite there and I wish there was a touch more integration into the main storyline. Regardless, it was great to see Phantom Liberty have some impact on the main game.

Phantom Liberty sets the stage perfectly within its opening hours, with an epic introduction to the story that has the Air Force One crashing down into Dog Town and V racing to the wreckage before Hansen’s men. As a whole, a lot of the missions have much more scripting and feel more like epic set-pieces. Infiltrating a high security Casino was an incredible moment. This is combined with the more traditional open-ended design that really lets you play with your build. It’s a fun expansion throughout.

Of course a good chunk of the expansion is set in the new region of Pacifica, known as Dogtown.  It’s a moderately sized zone, however, it is one of the most densely packed. The streets of Dogtown or filled to the brim with detail, more so than most of the base game areas. It’s a technical showcase and even more impressive that the game runs well on an ageing 3600X CPU. This is important to note as the upgrades to the RED Engine have pushed the visual fidelity even further, but CPU requirements saw an insane boost. However, I did see very similar performance, if not better than pre-patch.

Packed with a solid variety of sidequests, gigs, and much more, there’s a lot to do here. Despite Dogtown being the star of the show, the base Night City areas get some much deserved love, with the surrounding areas getting some new content. All together there is a solid 20 – 25 hours worth of content here. That’s not including the diverging paths that massively change the expansion’s third act, encouraging a second playthrough.

Alongside the expansion is the 2.0 update. I won’t go too much into detail here since it’s technically part of the base experience now, but it’s still worth touching up on. First up are the big changes to the progression and skill trees, bringing it down to a much more streamlined and impactful set of changes. Every skill feels more impactful, and the build variety as a whole is expanded. Gunplay feels tighter and work on the enemy AI has been done, making them more threatening.

However, the big changes are with vehicular combat that sits alongside the new marked vehicles content. You will get into some pretty sweet car chases for the first time. And yes, this includes an actual GTA-style wanted rating from the police. It’s a very different game than it used to be, and whilst there’s still a lot of flaws, they are much more manageable now. Hopefully the franchise will continue to grow and learn from this game.

Phantom Liberty is a bittersweet ending for Cyberpunk 2077. It’s culmination of all the efforts made to make the game something special. A stellar expansion that dramatically improves on the base experience, whilst delivering an epic spy-thriller storyline.

 

Final Verdict: 9.5

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.